Backup-Restore Proceduce not working: Library share permission not found

Seafile Server Docker
1

I am trying to set up a Seafile Server in Docker, and am trying out the restore produce. Unfortunately, I cannot get it to work, despite (seemingly) following the instructions exactly (from https://manual.seafile.com/11.0/maintain/backup_recovery/)

My steps:

Initial Setup

  • Tweak the docker-compose.yml file (I only fill in passwords, admin username and hostname):

    File contents 
    services:
  db:
    image: mariadb:10.11
    container_name: seafile-mysql
    environment:
      - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=mypassword  # Required, set the root's password of MySQL service.
      - MYSQL_LOG_CONSOLE=true
      - MARIADB_AUTO_UPGRADE=1
    volumes:
      - /opt/seafile-mysql/db:/var/lib/mysql  # Required, specifies the path to MySQL data persistent store.
    networks:
      - seafile-net

  memcached:
    image: memcached:1.6.18
    container_name: seafile-memcached
    entrypoint: memcached -m 256
    networks:
      - seafile-net

  seafile:
    image: seafileltd/seafile-mc:11.0-latest
    container_name: seafile
    ports:
      - "80:80"
#     - "443:443"  # If https is enabled, cancel the comment.
    volumes:
      - /opt/seafile-data:/shared   # Required, specifies the path to Seafile data persistent store.
    environment:
      - DB_HOST=db
      - DB_ROOT_PASSWD=mypassword  # Required, the value should be root's password of MySQL service.
      - TIME_ZONE=Etc/UTC  # Optional, default is UTC. Should be uncomment and set to your local time zone.
      - SEAFILE_ADMIN_EMAIL=myemail@example.com # Specifies Seafile admin user, default is 'me@example.com'.
      - SEAFILE_ADMIN_PASSWORD=mypassword2     # Specifies Seafile admin password, default is 'asecret'.
      - SEAFILE_SERVER_LETSENCRYPT=false   # Whether to use https or not.
      - SEAFILE_SERVER_HOSTNAME=127.0.0.1 # Specifies your host name if https is enabled.
    depends_on:
      - db
      - memcached
    networks:
      - seafile-net

networks:
  seafile-net:

  • Run docker compose up -d to start the server.

  • Create a library and upload some files (via the web interface)

Backup

  • Run the following commands to create a backup:

    docker exec -it seafile-mysql mysqldump  -uroot -pmypassword --opt ccnet_db > /mnt/seafile-backup/databases/ccnet_db.sql
docker exec -it seafile-mysql mysqldump  -uroot -pmypassword --opt seafile_db > /mnt/seafile-backup/databases/seafile_db.sql
docker exec -it seafile-mysql mysqldump  -uroot -pmypassword --opt seahub_db > /mnt/seafile-backup/databases/seahub_db.sql

rsync -az /opt/seafile-data/seafile /mnt/seafile-backup/data

Reset

  • Delete all docker containers
  • Delete the /opt/seafile-data and /opt/seafile-mysql directories

Restore

  • Set up the server with the steps described in “Initial setup”

  • Log into the web interface. The previous libraries are of course missing.

  • Import the backup using the following commands:

    docker cp /mnt/seafile-backup/databases/ccnet_db.sql seafile-mysql:/tmp/ccnet_db.sql
docker cp /mnt/seafile-backup/databases/seafile_db.sql seafile-mysql:/tmp/seafile_db.sql
docker cp /mnt/seafile-backup/databases/seahub_db.sql seafile-mysql:/tmp/seahub_db.sql

docker exec -it seafile-mysql /bin/sh -c "mysql -uroot -pmypassword ccnet_db < /tmp/ccnet_db.sql"
docker exec -it seafile-mysql /bin/sh -c "mysql -uroot -pmypassword seafile_db < /tmp/seafile_db.sql"
docker exec -it seafile-mysql /bin/sh -c "mysql -uroot -pmypassword seahub_db < /tmp/seahub_db.sql"

cp -R /mnt/seafile-backup/data/* /opt/seafile-data/seafile/

  • Restart the server

  • Log into the web interface. The previously created library is visible again (i.e. was restored), but clicking on it results in “Library share permission not found.” No amount of further restarting (as suggested by some posts) fixes this

How can I successfully restore the data? Are the official instructions incomplete, or am I simply doing something wrong?

2

Thanks for reporting the issue. We tested the document just now.

The issue is caused by seafile-data is not correctly restored to the right folder. There was an error in the original document for backup and restore Seafile server.
The document has been fixed now (on 2025-10-20).

You can find the fix at: